‘Gigantic mistake’ not to extend jobless benefits: Biden

House lawmakers who voted against extending unemployment benefits on Thursday made a “gigantic mistake,” Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday.

“These people go out and spend the money,” Biden argued on MSNBC, a day after 143 Republicans and 11 members of Biden’s own Democratic Party voted against a bill that would have extended emergency benefits through February at a cost of $12.5 billion. The bill failed to get the two-thirds majority needed for passage. Democratic leaders say they’ll keep working on an extension. See story about jobless benefits.

Biden made the case for extending benefits on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” saying “it has a significant impact on economic growth.”

The vice president also acknowledged that Democrats could have “prioritized” policies in a different way going into the midterm elections.

“And what we have to do now is learn from those lessons and move forward,” Biden said.

Most Democrats support additional benefits for the jobless. But Republicans have criticized spending that adds to the U.S. budget deficit.

About 2 million people will lose benefits by the end of the year if they’re not extended.